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The Liquid Hydrogen Layer

The first liquid layer inside Jupiter, immediately under the atmosphere, is the liquid hydrogen layer. The hydrogen atmosphere becomes thicker and thicker, a fog with more and more liquid hydrogen droplets, until the pressure of gas from regions above forces hydrogen to completly change from the gas form to the liquid form. This changes occurs at a depth of roughly 1000 km (650 miles) from the level of the first cloud deck. The hydrogen, in liquid form then behaves much as the terrestrial ocean does in forming currents and convection patterns for the purpose of carrying heat from the inside to the outside of Jupiter.

Under the liquid hydrogen layer is a liquid metallic hydrogen layer. This layer also forms complicated currents and convection patterns, but because the layer is metallic, it is also able to conduct electricity. This property of the liquid metallic hydrogen layer, coupled with the stirring action of Jupiter's terrifically fast spin rate (Jupiter spins once in 10 hours), is what produces Jupiter's enormously powerful and extensive magnetosphere.

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